Raise your hand if you have ever had conference brain? After a conference you are brimming with ideas and have a long list of things that you want to try, implement or learn more about. I don’t know about you but I often come down from the conference high, and land back in the real world with deadlines to manage, campaigns to organize and clients to please. I may get to one or two things on the list but far too often that list become one more of my kids with no shoes.
Overwhelmed (Photo credit: Walt Stoneburner)
Last week I attended the first ever Solo PR Pro Summit. It was an amazing event with a great lineup of speakers. The information shared was too valuable to languish in the “land of knowledge never applied” so I decided to try a different approach.
Post conference I started my day off with the #workhacks idea presented by Sarah Evans. As someone who was a Six Sigma trainer I truly appreciate efficiency improvements that are repeatable and help you reproduce the same high quality results in less time. The idea of #workhacks is to get more done in less time by strategically automating tasks and centralizing workflow to one hub.
My first workhack was to set up an account with Tracky which would function as my centralized hub for projects, ideas and status updates. Tracky will take time to really use effectively but is one of those hacks that has immediate payoff.
I cannot possibly implement everything I learned at the summit so made a prioritized list of tips that I could begin hacking away at over the next several months. I used Tracky to set up tips as tracks with links to the accompanying presentations and other resources that will help me work my way through putting insight into action. I can track my progress, and break up larger tasks into milestones. I can also add people to each track. This allows me to add subcontractors, subject matter experts or accountability partners to each specific project.
By using a project management approach, I am treating myself like a client (thanks to Heather Whaling for the reminder on this one) with a commitment to work on and not just in my business. The bonus is that I also have a personal development plan for the year to keep me growing, learning and becoming an even greater resource for clients.
How about you, do you have workhacks that help you to be more productive?
Davina, I have tried and failed at so many project management systems that I should be a poster child for what not to do! It truly does come down to finding something that fits the way you think and like to work, and sometimes that may not be a tech solution. So far, I am finding Tracky helpful although I am not doing all the cool things Sarah does with it. One week later my head is still spinning but I am happy to say that I have also made progress on implementing things I learned.
I was just tweeting that my head was still swimming from everything! Kinda don’t know where to start, want to tackle things while it’s fresh. ITA we need to treat ourselves like clients, we are! Need to either make time to DIY or outsource.
I like the idea of using a project management tool – but it’s all so user based. I remember joking w/ folks next to me that if we can’t teach clients to use things as simple as Evernote or Dropbox, it’s gonna be hard to get them to BUY into something like this. And when it’s only 2-3 people involved, there are times it may be more trouble than it’s worth. That’ll be the thing for any work hack – if it truly makes you faster, more efficient and organized. FWIW.